CLARIFICATION: In
the last issue it was noted that efforts for an anti-confinement
ballot initiative have failed in Arizona, Connecticut,
Delaware, New Hampshire and Vermont, per the July
issue of Egg Industry (see: FAW
Issue 21, item #3). In response, Paul Shapiro
with the Humane Society of the U.S. wrote: "States
such as Connecticut, Delaware, New Hampshire, and
Vermont don't even allow statewide ballot initiatives.
In Arizona, the only factory-farming related ballot
measure the state has seen was overwhelmingly approved
by voters: 62-38. It's true that several states have
considered bills in their legislatures regarding the
extreme confinement of farmed animals, but there have
only been two such ballot initiatives in recent years
(Florida in 2002 and Arizona in 2006) and they both
were approved by voters."

1.
MORE BEEF RECALLED; USDA BOWS TO INDUSTRY

Following Nebraska Beef Limited (NBL)’s
recall of 5.3 million pounds of “trimmings”
(meat intended for use as ground beef, see: http://tinyurl.com/59rzxr
) last month, the company is now recalling some 1.36
million pounds of “intact” beef. As with
the previous recall, this one came in two stages:
160,000 more pounds were added six days after an initial
August 8th recall of 1.2 million pounds. The two recalls
were for contamination by two different strains of
potentially lethal E. coli, warranting the highest
level of the three classes of recall. Meat in the
August recall is believed to be linked to more than
30 illnesses in a dozen states, D.C., and Canada.
NBL has a history of run-ins with USDA inspectors.
In 2003, the USDA attempted to shut the company down
for multiple inspection violations. NBL now faces
several lawsuits regarding the recalled meat.

“It can be legal to sell steaks and roasts
that carry a potentially deadly strain of E. coli.
But it is not legal to sell that meat if it is going
to be used to make ground beef,” explains the
Washington Post, “Regulators do not monitor
meat sold for steaks and roasts as closely as meat
sold for ground beef because those primal cuts are
less likely to make people sick. For example, if a
steak is contaminated, the bacteria are most likely
on the outside and killed during cooking. By contrast,
with ground beef, the pathogen gets mixed in and can
survive if the interior isn't heated to 160 degrees.”
The recent NBL recall included intact meat, some of
which was used to make ground beef.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) expressed
interest in expanding the policy on E. coli O157:H7
in ground beef to include intact cuts but publicly
retreated after encountering opposition from the beef
industry. ‘We understand that in order to have
the greatest impact, decisions must not only be science
based, but also have the support of our stakeholders
and constituents," said Richard Raymond, USDA
undersecretary for food safety. A USDA meeting to
be held later this year will discuss using radiation
as another way to make meat safer.

In what BEEF Cow-Calf Weekly (BCCW)
called “another black eye for the industry,”
the USDA announced on August 6th a recall of 153,630
lbs. of beef produced by S&S Foods LLC due to
possible E. coli O157:H7 contamination. The recall
occurred after 73 attendees of a Virginia Boy Scout
camp fell ill (and see: http://tinyurl.com/63873r
). The industry publication points to other recent
recalls, including the more than 20 in 2007 involving
in excess of 30 million pounds of beef (see: http://tinyurl.com/563qae
and http://tinyurl.com/5qd6u6
). It also notes: “[t]he Food Marketing Institute's
“U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends 2008” survey
found that in 2007, 66% of shoppers – down from
82% the year before – were confident that the
food they buy at the grocery store is safe.”
BCCW opines that E. coli O157:H7 “really is
the U.S. beef industry’s Achilles heel; a problem
with our most popular product that’s seriously
tarnishing the U.S. reputation”: http://tinyurl.com/6h8mdk
See also: SECRET INGREDIENTS: http://tinyurl.com/69evvr

"I'm going to just go underground,"
said Carter Kinchen of the Louisiana ban on cockfighting,
"fight [roosters] here and yonder. If they come
to take them I'm going to die." While it has
been illegal there since last year to gamble on cockfights,
the total ban went into effect on August 15th (see:
http://tinyurl.com/6lpw5t
). The only U.S. land where cockfighting now remains
legal is in American Samoa, Guam and Puerto Rico.
Both fans and opponents say cockfighting will continue
illegally. "I can go up [to nearby southern states]
on any given weekend and go to a rooster fight and
it's wide open - like it's not against the law,"
said Louisianan cockfighting enthusiast Billy Duplechein.
First-time offenders caught participating in a cockfight
will face a maximum of a $1,000 fine and six-month
prison term. State law enforcement authorities have
pledged to strictly uphold the law and show zero tolerance
toward violators. The Humane Society of the U.S. has
set up a hotline and is promising up to $5,000 for
tips that lead to an arrest and conviction. The organization
is waiting until at least 2010 to seek tougher penalties.
DYING DAYS OF COCKFIGHTING IN AMERICA photo gallery
at: http://tinyurl.com/5bh9pj

The Poultry Science Association (PSA),
the American Association of Avian Pathologists, and
the American College of Poultry Veterinarians have
joined Californians for Safe Food, the coalition (http://tinyurl.com/6hlvwb
) opposing Proposition 2, the California ballot initiative
(see: http://tinyurl.com/6glf5n
). PSA's food safety committee said "there is
justifiable scientific concern that food safety may
be compromised" if the ballot initiative passes,
and the measure "is seriously flawed from both
a scientific and public policy perspective."
The committee that developed United Egg Producers
(UEP)’s animal care guidelines has released
a statement about the importance of using science
as the basis of such guidelines: http://tinyurl.com/69n48k
(UEP has also unveiled a website which reportedly
enables visitors to “Watch our hens through
LIVE Web cams”: http://uepcertified.com
) The California Teamsters Public Affairs Council
also voted to oppose Prop 2, arguing that it would
eliminate jobs and give police powers to activists
including the ability to arrest farm workers.

In his August 11th blog posting, HSUS’s
Wayne Pacelle discussed his recent testimony before
members of the California Senate and Assembly Agriculture
Committees. He pointed out that, despite arguments
by Prop 2 opponents for keeping hens caged (see: http://tinyurl.com/6djlah
), almost all of the battery-cage egg companies also
maintain cage-free operations. He also noted that
chickens used for meat are raised in cage-free housing.
“I've heard every rationalization from people
exploiting animals for fun or for profit…they'll
all have their excuses and their defenses of the status
quo. The factory farmers are no different, it's just
that they make more money…They can hire better
consultants and trot out more scientists beholden
to the industry,” Pacelle wrote.

In his August 12th blog, HSUS’s
Mike Markarian took agribusiness to task, noting egregious
examples of labor violations by large egg companies.
“A single factory farm owned by Gemperle Enterprises
in Turlock, Calif., confines one million chickens.
The owners brag that only four people have keys to
the facility, and fewer than a half dozen people are
even allowed inside. A half dozen people for a million
birds. The paltry few jobs that remain expose workers
to infectious diseases and concentrated chemicals.
Factory farms generate toxic dust and gas plumes that
cause respiratory irritation among workers,”
Markarian wrote. See also CAFOS A DRAIN ON ECONOMY,
a recent opinion piece by Sierra Club spokesperson
Ken Midkiff: http://tinyurl.com/6e8rs3

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s
approval of a $3 million ad campaign in California
by the American Egg Board (AEB) has been met with
a lawsuit. Californians for Humane Farms (CHF, see
item #3) filed suit against U.S.
Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer and AEB, a marketing
entity created by Congress and funded by large egg
companies. CHF objects to the timing of the ad campaign,
which is to run until election day, claiming the intent
is to prevent the enactment of Proposition 2 (see
item #3). It argues that AEB, which
is supervised by the USDA, is strictly prohibited
from using its funds “for the purpose of influencing
government policy or action." The lawsuit asserts
that AEB voted in November to spend $3 million against
Prop 2. Documents obtained through the Freedom of
Information Act allegedly confirm AEB’s plans
and show that it intends to have some of the money
spent on billboards opposing the ballot initiative.
The lawsuit seeks to a court order preventing the
money from being spent that way.

According to Feedstuffs FoodLink (FF),
an industry publication, the information about the
vote, gleaned from Egg Industry, a trade publication
(see Clarification note above), is faulty.
The vote called for the money to be spent "for
a consumer education campaign to educate the public
about current production practices," with no
reference to California or the initiative, FF states,
asserting that public information is a legitimate
function of AEB.

“With each bite into the ham,
I heard the shrieking of pigs in my head. When will
the pigs stop screaming, Karen Dawn? When? When the
world converts to vegetarianism, she writes in the
book. This will happen eventually. She's not militant
about this point. She's logical. She's levelheaded.
She's funny. That's why her message is so . . . darn
. . . persuasive, ” writes Dan Zak, who interviewed
Dawn for the Washington Post. Dawn, the person behind
DawnWatch, an e-news service that promotes positive
activist contact with the media, has written Thanking
the Monkey, “a glossy, nearly 400-page, eminently
readable book that… celebrates the progress
of the animal rights movement” with a celebrity
photo or cartoon on every page: http://tinyurl.com/579yze.

Asked about a turkey she sponsored at
Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary, Dawn remarks: “…a
visit to Poplar Spring makes you rethink things. It's
interesting when you meet chickens: They are sentient
beings and not particularly stupid at all. And you
suddenly don't want to be contributing to the battery
cage industry. It's easy to do these days and makes
such a difference. People just swap out the cow's
milk in their lives for soy milk.” Washington
D.C.’s NBC affiliate station also accompanied
Dawn on a tour of the sanctuary: http://tinyurl.com/6jje4o.